The Machine Beneath
by LunaRowena
Summary: "Aloth Corfiser, is there even a machine down here or did you bring me here under false pretenses just so you could take me out?"


Pillars Prompts Weekly #0041: Machine

"Thank you for coming all this way." Aloth lit a torch on the wall, illuminating the dusty passageway. "It means a lot to me."

"Of course," Amaryllis said. She picked her way around the rubble to follow Aloth. "Anything for a friend with an Engwithan machine problem." Of course, the fact that it was Aloth certainly helped. "Besides, I've never been to the Vailian Republics before."

"I apologize that your first experience is crawling through underground ruins." They reached a fork in the passageway. Aloth studied some markings on the wall before turning to the right.

"Oh, you know me. I love crawling through underground ruins."

"From anyone else I would assume that was sarcasm."

"I do!" she protested. "Besides," she smiled at him, "If we were up above I might blow your cover, 'Aelfwine.' There aren't that many pale elves from the Dyrwood. If there are even more than one."

"I'm sure we can figure something out. We can go around and see the sights after we take care of this."

"Aloth Corfiser, is there even a machine down here or did you bring me here under false pretenses just so you could take me out?" she teased.

It was difficult to tell in the torchlight, but she could swear he was blushing. "I assure you, I do unfortunately have an Engwithan problem. However," he was suddenly very interested in some dust on his jerkin, "I do admit I am very glad to see you."

She had been joking, and now she was afraid she was the one blushing. "I," she habitually reached to tug on the end of her braid before remembering she had braided her hair around her head for the excursion. "I missed you, too." She wound up awkwardly rubbing her neck. Smooth. Luckily he was watching the passage up ahead and not her. "It certainly is a maze down here."

"I've found that the Vailians just continued to build on top of the ruins of older cities. We're going to want to go down here." He stopped and gestured to a hole in the floor. "If there are stairs I unfortunately don't know where they are."

Amaryllis reached into her bag and pulled out a rope and grappling hook. "It's more fun this way."

"Right," he secured the grappling hook and let the rope down the crevice. "Fun."

Amaryllis sometimes wondered if they wouldn't be better suited to each others' lives–her traveling Eora after the Leaden Key and him ruling Caed Nua. He seemed to be doing perfectly well, though. Better, even. She doubted that the Aloth she had first met would be climbing around ancient ruins beneath a city. Shaking herself out of her recollections, she grabbed hold of the rope and followed him down into the darkness.

It was pitch black as they climbed down the rope. She had no idea how far it was to the bottom. She couldn't even see her own feet as she looked down. "Lovely place you've got here."

"Yes, well," his voice echoed from below. They must be in some sort of open cavern. "I don't have any spells that produce light without the chance of accidentally burning or dazing us."

"That does seem like a bad choice this far up."

"Quite." His voice seemed to be echoing up now, they might be nearing the bottom. "If I'm timing correctly it shouldn't be too much farther to the bottom, though I've only been here twice."

"You've a good memory."

"Chalk marks on the walls." There was a soft thud as he must have dropped to the ground. "And I haven't gotten us all the way there yet."

"Well, there's no one I'd rather be lost in ancient ruins with." Her arms were starting to ache. She was getting out of shape just hanging around Caed Nua. Climbing down another meter or so, she let go of the rope and dropped to the ground. Hitting the bottom with a thud, she stumbled into Aloth as her feet rolled on the uneven ground.

He wrapped his arms around her to steady her. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Her face warmed as she was painfully aware of how close he was. After lingering a few moments longer than was strictly necessary, she cleared her throat and stepped away. "So, how did you find this place anyway?"

"Following some members of our favorite organization." Light flared as he re-lit the torch and Amaryllis blinked in the light. "They weren't quite as discrete as they thought they were."

As her eyes adjusted to the light, she could finally look around. They appeared to be in the ruins of a city that had been preserved in the pocket of a cavern. "This is amazing."

"I thought you would like it." He worked his way to the left, peering down an avenue. "Ah, yes, we follow this street to that building up ahead."

Following him up to peer down the street, she could see a faint, green glow up ahead. "Well, a straight shot is good."

"It certainly helps with finding our way back."

As they walked, she examined the buildings she could see by the torchlight. Definitely Engwithan with their elaborate designs and carvings. "So what was the Leaden Key up to down here?"

"I don't entirely know. Something to do with the machine. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite as discrete as I thought I was and they caught onto me before I could observe what they were doing."

"What happened?" They reached the doors of the elaborate… temple, she would call it, and there was definitely a soft, green glow emanating from the cracks in the doorway.

He turned towards her with a small smirk. "They're no longer with us." He pushed open one of the large, carved doors and gestured for her to step into the building.

Her footsteps echoed in the giant hall. Large pillars held up an elaborately decorated, domed ceiling. But overshadowing all the tarnished splendor was a large, towering metallic structure surrounding a jagged pillar of adra. The top looked like it had been chipped off and indeed, it appeared that a chunk of ceiling had fallen down and clipped it. The entire contraption glowed green. A soft hum pressed against her eardrums and the air felt thicker. For a second she thought she saw the machine surrounded by figures in a flash of purple, but just as suddenly the vision was gone. Her eyes watered and she shook her head trying to clear it as she continued walking toward the machine.

She felt Aloth all into step beside her. "I can't say I've seen one exactly like this before. I assume it's for more of the same; moving souls."

He gave a weak smile. "I was hoping there would be instructions. Such as 'this is the off button.'"

"If only we're so lucky." She continued forward up a small flight of stairs until she was in front of the control panel. "I don't entirely care what it's for. My plan was to decommission it like all the others, but it looks partially damaged already so who knows what will happen if I try to overload it." Her eyes swam as the ancient Engwithan symbols formed themselves into words in her mind. "You may want to stand back."

She felt his hand on her shoulder. "I'm not about to leave you."

She reached back and squeezed his hand. "Just stay alert. Now," she took a deep breath. "Let's try this." She twisted a dial. Nothing happened. "Well that was–"

A burst of green light shot forward toward her and Amaryllis felt herself shoved out of the way. She rolled down the stairs and lay coughing at the bottom. The light subsided. "Aloth?" There was no response. "Aloth!" She scrambled back up the stairs. He lay collapsed in a heap on the platform. She reached towards him. She tried to control her breathing, letting in and out a deep breath. He had a pulse and wasn't a pile of ash. That was good. She hoped he would forgive her as she reached out toward his mind. A cipher and a Watcher. It was a dangerous combination.

She found his consciousness, but it was… less than she expected. Letting in and out another deep breath, she forced herself not to panic. Unfocusing her eyes, she mentally reached out to the surroundings. She felt it–felt him, part of his soul, slipping away into the jagged pillar of adra. "Oh no, you don't." Forcing herself up from her knees, she grasped the control panel. Honing in on the ripped off portion of his soul, she felt herself turning dials and pressing buttons she shouldn't know how to press. The machine groaned and whirred. She ducked as there was another vibrant flash of green light into Aloth. She felt his soul snap violently back into place and breathed a sigh of relief. Something wet fell onto her hand and she realized tears were coming out of her eyes. Forcing in and out another shaky breath, she dragged the still unconscious Aloth down from the platform, then turned back toward the machine.

Clearing her mind, she stepped back up the stairs in a daze. Again she let her hands perform movements of their own, manipulating the controls, until at last she pulled a level and the green glow died. For a moment there was silence except for her ragged breathing before the adra pillar exploded. She threw herself to the ground, trying to shield herself behind the control panel as chunks of adra went flying. She felt a chip scratch past her face.

"Amaryllis?"

"Aloth!" She crawled down the stairs in the darkness, reaching blindly before she found his hand. She grasped it tightly, pulling herself toward him.

"What happened?"

"How do you feel?"

"Not well." He coughed. "What just happened?"

"The machine malfunctioned, part of your soul was split from your body and attempted to escape, I put your soul back, and then I exploded the machine." She fumbled on the floor for the torch. Grabbing hold of it, she realized she had crawled onto Aloth's lap.

Fire flared from his fingertips as he lit the torch between them. "You're bleeding."

"I'm fine. Aloth, your soul was just ripped in half! Or more like a quarter and three-quarter chunks. Or maybe a third and two-thirds."

"You're bleeding, you're rambling, and you're shaking." He reached into his pack, fished out a handkerchief, and pressed it to her forehead.

She was shaking. She tried to hold the torch steady. "That blast was headed for me, that was incredibly stupid of you!"

"Better you than me."

"How can you say that?"

"Amaryllis, I…" he shook his head. "From a practical perspective, I'm not a Watcher that knows Engwithan. If it had been you on the floor and me at the machine, I would only have been able to stand there as… whatever happened happened."

"You might not have come back!" she tried to sound accusing, but only blinked back tears.

He wiped the blood from her forehead. "And you… you wouldn't have come back. Don't ask me to want to live with that."

"I'm not asking you to–" she cut herself off and sighed. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"No," he grimaced. "I feel awful and I don't think I'm going to be slinging fireballs around any time soon. But I'm awake, Iselmyr is still locked away where she should be, and in general I'm alive."

"I'm not going to argue with alive. Are you going to be able to make it back up the rope?"

"I would love nothing more than to collapse right now, but I would like to try to make it back to the surface before that happens."

It was a struggle to make it back up the rope, but they managed without any major mishaps. It was evening by the time they limped out of the caverns into the city supporting each other. A woman on the street screamed as she saw the elves and hurried in the opposite direction.

Aloth laughed. "You do look a bit like a ghost, pale white and covered in blood."

"Well, then," she smiled, "I request the first site you take me to see, 'Aelfwine,' is an inn with a bath."

"I think I can handle that," and the two elves turned down the street.


End file.
